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Tom Reed,who previously covered the Blue Jackets for The Dispatch, is back after a five-year absence while working for the newspaper in that city up north: Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter at @treed1919

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Good News On Dorsett

Posted Dec 11, 2011
by Aaron Portzline

If you happened to see the injury suffered by Blue Jackets right winger Derek Dorsett in the second period of Saturday's 5-3 loss to Boston, you probably went to bed expecting Dorsett to be out of the lineup for many weeks, perhaps the rest of the season.

But good news arrived this afternoon.

GM Scott Howson, via Twitter, announced that Dorsett's injury, while undisclosed or perhaps undetermined, is not serious, that he's considered day-to-day. Here's the full tweet: We received good news on Derek Dorsett injury. Not as serious as first feared. We will see how he is tomorrow but he is day to day.

Howson agreed to discuss the situation with The Dispatch after be broke the news on Twitter. After taking a long, hard look at Dorsett's lower left leg, doctors ruled out a high-ankle sprain, a fractured fibula and torn knee ligaments, all considered possibilities given the way Dorsett's left leg twisted under the weight of his body as he fell backward to the ice.

“It’s not a week by week injury, and certainly not month to month, or a season-ending injury as you might have thought watching it (on Saturday)," Howson said. "It's amazing. Derek got very lucky. We're quite lucky."

Dorsett will not play Tuesday vs. Vancouver. He's almost certain to miss Thursday's game vs. Los Angeles. After that, we'll see. He's wearing a protective boot on his left foot, not walking on crutches, but doctors are continuing to monitor.

Dorsett’s injury will require the Blue Jackets to recall a forward from minor-league Springfield at some point today, probably after 5 p.m.

If it’s toughness the Blue Jackets want, they might simply recall winger Cody Bass, who was sent down on Friday. But Dorsett was playing a third-line role and chipping in offensively (six goals) at a rather impressive rate. In that case, wingers Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson or Tomas Kubalik would make sense for a recall.

Side dishes:

-- The Blue Jackets did not practice on Sunday. Back at it on Monday.

-- After giving up three power play goals to Boston on Saturday, the Blue Jackets now have the worst penalty kill (73.7 percent) in the NHL.

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